


How Life Should Be

by Reapers-Carino (SweetKimchii)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Blood and Injury, Established Relationship, Explosions, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Loss of Limbs, Major Character Injury, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 20:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetKimchii/pseuds/Reapers-Carino
Summary: The war was over and it was time for life to finally return to the way it should be. The way it had always been promised to you and Akande. Marriage, fighting tournaments, a family, a chance at true, unabashed happiness.But the world is not a storybook and life does not work in the way we oft think it should. There are twists and red herrings and surprise endings that leave us pleading for how life should have been and how it should be. The only options we are left with are to adapt...or wither.





	How Life Should Be

The smile grew on your lips as you leaned forward, elbows digging into your thighs as your eyes focused in on the match in front of you. It would be over soon if Akande’s eyes were any indication, the man’s deep umber irises glittering as he bounced from foot to foot as he waited for Angelo to move. Both men were heavyweight champions of their respective states, Akande of Oyo and Angelo of Ogun before the war and they intended to claim their title once more as soon as the competitions started up once again. Sweat glistened on Akande’s bare chest, his boxing shorts dipping low, tempting your eyes for a brief moment before Angelo shifted, his movement catching yours and obviously Akande’s gaze. You bit down hard on your bottom lip as Akande suddenly struck, the taller man ducking and weaving two quick jabs before his left fist connected with Angelo’s jaw. The stockier fighter stumbled backwards before falling back on his ass and groaning low in his chest. 

“And stay down!”

**This is how life should be.**

Excitement boiled inside of you as you jumped up and out of your seat, throwing your arms up and giving an excited whoop as you jumped down from the stands and towards the ringside. You were laughing as you continued to cheer, snatching his water bottle and towel from his duffle bag and waving it at him to beckon him out of the ring. Akande smirked as he helped Angelo up, the other fighter gently massaging and opening and closing his mouth to stretch his jaw as stood on his own two feet, both men clapping the other on the shoulder. It had been a good few rounds of a fight, neither man leaving unscathed but Akande ultimately ending up the victor. 

“It was a good fight”, Akande started, his arm around the man’s shoulder as they started towards the edge of the ring. His smirk grew cocky as he bumped his shoulder with his own before releasing him to climb under the ropes. “But you have a tell. You glance where you’re going for too long, makes you easy to read. That and I’m better, of course.”

“Argh”, Angelo groaned, lifting his hand in a non-threatening manner and waving the man off. He was taking his advice to heart, of course, but the good-natured bragging could be stuffed. “Whatever, go greet your cheerleader and I’ll see you in the gym tomorrow.”

“You’re just jealous Mary is not here”, you teased at his retreating back, eyes quickly turning to look up into Akande’s. 

A peal of laughter tumbled from your lips as he dipped down and lifted you up as if you weighed nothing, you wrapping his towel around his neck before handing his water bottle off to him. You watched as he gulped the drink down, pure adoration in your gaze as you studied his visage, picking up at the edge of the towel and playfully dabbing at the quickly drying sweat at his temple and brow. He had always been athletic but over the last few years he had truly begun to bulk up, his shoulders getting broader, his abs and pectorals and even his ass getting larger the more he focused on his training. Dropping the towel you gently ran your fingers over short locs your auntie had twisted into his hair a month ago before your fingertips danced down the sides of his head, over the fade he had gotten last week, playfully flicking at his ears. He twisted his head to the left and pressed a kiss against the inside of your wrist, a shiver rolling down your spine as his full lips knowingly teased the sensitive spot. As tough as he was in the ring, you knew that he was nothing but a teddy bear outside, at least when it came to you. A small chuff of laughter left his lips as you slapped him with his towel to get him to stop his teasing. 

You bit the inside of your cheek as you tried to tap down on the giddy grin that sprung onto your lips anytime you saw the man. It wasn’t like the two of you were ever that far apart. The two of you had known one another since you were in diapers, your parents material suppliers to their prosthetics business and friends since they had been in university. You had been quick friends as toddlers and had found yourself quite fond of one another the older you grew and soon the two of you would be married. He had grown from the lithe, almost lanky boy you had once known into a muscular powerhouse of a young man in his early twenties. He was ready to take the world by storm, his father giving him a pass to continue fighting while the company rebuilt after the war, Akande promising to work hard these next few months to bring home the next International Mixed Martial Arts Awards home to Nigeria. 

**This is how things were supposed to be.**

“That was a pretty good fight ‘De”, you bragged, using his nickname,the obvious pride you felt for him in your voice, the man’s brow quirking upwards as he beckoned you to keep talking. He dropped his emptied water bottle behind him, shifting you so that your legs were wrapped around his hips, his hands laced under your ass as he playfully rocked you from side to side. “Your form is getting tighter. You’re still a little slower when someone is coming from the left but give it a little and you’ll be back to how you were. And then nobody will stop you.”

“I like the sound of that”, Akande agreed, tilting his hands so you were pressed more firmly against his chest, the deep baritone of his voice rumbling gently against your torso. 

You smiled as he continued to rock from side to side playfully, pressing his forehead to yours and staring into your eyes affectionately. Canting your head to the side, Akande caught your lips in a slow, gentle kiss, one kiss turning into three then four then five adoration-filled pecks from the man, quickly dissolving into soft breathy laughter against his lips. 

“Lunch?”

“Shouldn't you shower first, ‘De?”

“I’ll shower after I eat, I’m starving.”

“Fine fine”, you acquiesced, rolling your eyes playfully before tapping his shoulder gently to request that he put you down. “But stop for suya on the way in, it’ll take forever to get home and you know you get snippy without a meal.”

“Alright”, he answered back, one hand remaining under your ass as another moved to the small of your back as he bent forward. 

Your legs unwrapped from around his hip, toes grazing the floor as he placed you down, his hands gently massaging your sides before he took a half step back. You made a shoo motion as his hands lingered, laughing as he jogged away to change out of his practice gear. You whistled appraisingly as he came back, black loafers and jeans accompanied by a half buttoned up blue, black, yellow, oranges and teals of his  [ ankara print ](https://africandressdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/male_ankara/Nigeria_Ankara_Catalogue_for_men_4.png?bwg=1546047125) shirt popping against his skin. Spinning he made a show of sauntering over to you, even adding a spin as he stopped right in front of you, earning a playful backhand to the chest. 

“Let's go home.”

His hand completely enveloped yours, but you loved the soft warmth of his skin, the man’s daily skincare routine almost rivaling your own. His thumb rubbed the back of your hand lightly as the two of you walked in amicable silence to the car, bumping your shoulder into him playfully as he opened your door and helped you in like the gentleman he was. 

“Why thank you”, you hummed as he helped you up, smiling sweetly as he closed the door behind you, stowing the bag in the backseat before making his way around the the ‘driver seat’.

He didn’t need to actually drive but he could if he pleased, the man ducking into the car and taking his seat, fingers dancing across the console as he input the coordinates to home and leaned back in the seat. The two of you chatted idly, you scrolling through your social media page using the holo screen feature as he gently ran his fingertips up and down your thigh, his eyes closed as he debated falling asleep on the half hour drive back to detached bungalow on his family’s property near Ibadan. He gave in to sleep easily, his hand wrapping around your own as you turned on music, low enough to not interrupt his sleep but loud enough to be heard as you scrolled through your page. You began to zone out as a series of messages arrived from your wedding planner, allowing the music and the smoothness of the ride to take over, one hand swiping across the screen. 

The lively beat of the music masked the sound of two explosions going off in front of you, the rolling bass a perfect camouflage for the thunderous noise that happened a few blocks away. Weeks after this you would convince yourself that if you had heard this, if you hadn’t been so damned distracted you could have done something differently….something that would have spared him all of this pain. You jerked hard as the screen of bridesmaid dresses was suddenly interrupted by a warning siren completely wiping out all other messages on the windshield. 

‘Hostiles Ahead!’

The street ahead of you was beginning to clog with traffic and people, blood freezing in your veins as you caught sight of what was causing all this chaos a little further beyond them. Several omnics stood in the road, weapons in hand, some aimed at people or the food stalls while others were beginning to aim at the cars. You...you needed to move. But you couldn’t. It was happening again. Just like all those years ago during the war and you could feel the air get trapped in your lungs and your hands begin to shake. You had frozen for too long and you could feel it but you still couldn’t move even as you began to watch one of hose monstrosities turn a rocket launcher towards the row of cars you were stuck behind. Akande twitched and as if the orisha themselves had blessed you your senses as you quickly shook the man’s shoulder waking him. 

“A-A-Akande”, you stuttered, shaking the man harder as panic began to take over. The man’s eyes fluttered open before his brow furrowed hard, confusion and concern written plainly on his face as he saw the fear in yours. “W-w-we have to go.”

“What’s--shit!”

Akande quickly yanked you into arms, his grip on you bruisingly tight as he pulled the both of you out of the car, his left shoulder crashing into the car to the left of him as the both of you tumbled to the ground. You shook your head, beginning to push yourself up but Akande moved faster, gathering you into his arms and giving you a brief order to ‘hold on’ before taking off running. You did not argue nor did you tease, your arms wrapping tight around his neck as he took off, the sound of an explosion behind the both of you forcing your face into the side of his neck, a terrified sob wrested from your throat. 

This was all so much like the day you had narrowly managed to escape during the war as children. The screams. The crying. The begging. The running. The smell of petrol burning, panic wrapping its hands tighter and tighter around your throat as another explosion went off. The both of you felt the heat of the explosion first and then the force slammed into his back, Akande being pushed off of his feet, the man turning to take the brunt of the fall on his side and not directly on top of you. Still you landed hard on your back, the air knocked from your lungs, eyes snapping shut, one hand tangled tightly in his shirt while the other clutched at your chest as you tried to stop hyperventilating. 

Stars danced in your eyes and fire in your lungs as you listened to the sounds of gunfire grow terrifyingly closer. Seconds ticked by for what felt like hours, as the gunfire and sound of explosions fell practically on top of you, the screams and cries of people growing loud and further at the same time, your tiny hiccups of sound not loud enough to draw any attention your way. Slowly they drew further and further away, you found yourself able to pull more air into your lungs but your head was still light and you were till too dizzy to try and sit up or move from under the car. Turning onto your side, you turned into Akande’s shoulder, giving a small sigh of relief that the two of you had been fortunate enough to make it out of this alive and mostly unscathed, bruises and scrapes aside. 

“De…”, you croaked to the man as your voice came back to you, hands gently tugging at his shirt, eyes peeling open to look into his face. Akande’s face was twisted in pain, his eyes skewed up tight as he drew in pained breath after breath. “De!”

You forced yourself completely over, hands shaking as you gently groped at his face, confusion on yours as you searched for the obvious injury. Brow furrowed, your eyes finally noticed the pool of blood growing beneath the man and the growing ashen tone overtaking his face. Need to protect him overrode the fear of the danger that surrounded the both of you, scrambling from underneath of the car, grabbing his shirt and pulling until the man was fully outside on the road. 

“Oh god…”

The angle of his right arm was completely wrong, elbow twisted inward with his wrist facing the sky, his eyes skewed tightly shut as you dropped back to his side. Your hands gently cupped his face, his brow knit and eyes closed,concern dancing over your features as you tried to figure out the next step. 

You had to stop the bleeding. But to stop the bleeding you had to figure out where the bleeding was coming from. There was no wound that you could see, only a steady flow of blood from his right side. Your hands shook as you tried to decide your next step, hovering over his shoulder as you tried to find the resolve to move him. Apologies streamed from your mouth like water as you, as gently as you could, grasped at his left shoulder and began to turn the man towards you.

"I'm sorry my love", you apologized in a choked voice as he let a cry of pain fall past his lips. 

You tried your best to move as carefully as possible, not fully turning him onto his stomach, not wanting to jostle his obviously broken arm. You peered over his shoulder, rising to your knees before a pained sob caught in your throat. A piece of glass that was nearly as big as you hand, was jutting out of his back. Only an inch or two was visible, your mind debating over if you should try plucking it out and potentially cause more damage or leaving it in and letting him bleed out. The former won out. 

Timidly, you reached for the glass, whimpering softly at the sharp inhale Akande made as your fingers gently prodded at the shard, his blood coating your fingers. Your fingers slipped as you tried to remove the shard, not even a centimeter giving as Akande cried out. There's no way you could remove this...but if this wasn't removed and his arm wasn't set he would…

No, you couldn't let that happen. 

You maneuvered his body around, turning him so he was on his left side, his injured arm and the chunk of glass on his right now exposed clearly. The vibrant colors had stained sanguine, blues appearing more purple, reds, oranges and yellows all a solid crimson. Unabashedly, you pulled your shirt over your head, too concerned for Akande's safety to care about someone seeing you shirtless on the street. Lifting his head, you placed your shirt beneath his head, fingers lingering on his skin before you pressed a kiss to his temple. 

"I will be back beloved", you murmured against his damp brow. " I  _ will _ get us help."

The cacophony of violence had moved past where you both had been thrown, the sound of explosions and the incoming sound of police vehicles now several blocks away. Smoothing one down his cheek you stood, legs shaking as you looked back from where you both had been. Your stomach turned as you looked at the chaos; the injured and the dead scattered amongst the busy roads as survivors either ran or tried to tend to their friends, blood and viscera soaking into the gray concrete while cars sat in various states of disarray. Some had just been moved, others were filled with bullet holes while some had been completely destroyed. Your eyes sought out the dark blue hovercar Akande owned, catching a glimmer and something that looked like a break. The vehicle was only a block away, still hovering and not on fire. You sent a silent prayer up to the gods, scanning the area once more for attackers before dashing towards the car. As soon as you grabbed your phone you would be saved.

Voices called out to you, begging for help or groaning in pain, some hands grabbing at your legs before you tugged away and kept running. You hated this, the taste of bile acrid in the back of your throat, the memories from years before clawing at the back of your mind. The sound of explosions and gunfire, death so casually disseminated while she and Akande ran for their lives. Just like when they were children, just like during the Omnic Crisis. A wave of nausea hit you hard, your feet stumbled over some of the concrete chunks blown out of the ground. Your arms wrapped tightly around your middle, taking in deep gulps of air to force your stomach to calm. You did not have time for this, you admonished yourself internally. Akande needed you and you needed to push through this for him.

You stumbled and tripped several times, managing to make it to the car. It wasn't as unscathed as you initially thought, bullet holes along the front and a scorched passenger side door. Fumbling with the door handle, you stumbled backwards as it gave way, quickly scrambling inside of the vehicle. Your small blue sling bag sat on the floor, unbothered and still closed. It felt like salvation had come as your hands wrapped around the strap, slipping the bag over your shoulder as you slid out of the car once more. As soon as your feet touched the concrete you were off, dashing towards Akande with all the speed you could muster, salvation just one small call away.

Your lungs burned as you reached Akande, the smoke and dust in the air closing around your throat and making you wheeze. Greedily sucking in deep gulps of air, you dropped to your knees alongside Akande, scooting closer to the man as you smoothed a hand down his cheek. His breathing caught for a brief moment as you touched him, fear of an unknown assailant making his eyes peek open. You smiled at him, the tears in your eyes making them shine as he let out a shuddering sigh of relief before closing his eyes once more. His skin was still warm, he was still breathing and while he was injured, he was still alive. Swallowing the hiccup and blinking away the tears, you pulled your bag from your shoulder, dumping its contents onto the Earth haphazardly. Pushing away makeup and tissues, your phone peered up at you, screen blinking with over a dozen or so missed calls from both of your families. Sweeping the rest of the contents off of the phone, your fingers shook as you tapped on your father's name, the call taking several pregnant moments to connect to an audio only call.

"Y/N!"

You could hear the voices of both your and Akande's parents, your eyes instantly welling up at hearing your father's voice. It felt childish, but the fear inside your heart instantly latched onto the man that had loved and protected you your whole life.

"Baba", you whimpered softly, sniffling hard as tears rolled down your face. "De is hurt Baba….it's bad. He needs help…please."

Your voice warbled as you spoke, your tear-clogged tone and words making the room go into a tizzy. Your father however spoke as calmly as he could muster, you too distraught to catch the shaking in his voice. 

"They are dispatching ground troops now", he said quickly, his voice going quiet before continuing with a slight echo. "Stay where you are, I will have someone get you out of there. Okay?"

"Yes Baba...please hurry…"

Weeping as the call ended, one hand pressed your phone to your chest while the other laid gently on Akande's head. Deep breaths and your two anchors kept you from completely breaking down, eyes constantly darting to Akande's chest to make sure he was still breathing. Your tears slowed as you strained your ears listening for the savior's your father had promised you. Minutes ticked by like hours, the slightest noise making your shoulders jump and heart thunder. You were completely exhausted, body and mind wiped by the last hour or so, and yet you refused to let your vigilance drop. The sound of nearing vehicles made you tense, your eyes darting between Akande and the small piece of road you could see, afraid that a second wave of attackers was on the horizon. 

You completely curled your body around Akande's, guarding him from whatever danger had pulled up behind you, the last dredges of adrenaline rushing through your system as the crunch of boots sounded in your ears behind you.

"Akande?! Y/N?!"

The voice was unfamiliar but was distinctly human, and Akande’s breathing was getting harsh...Maybe this is who your father had sent for you. Pressing a hard kiss against Akande’s temple you stumbled backwards and onto your feet, searching for the source of the voice. A green humvee sat towards an intersection down the road, a soldier standing on the backseat with his hand on his rifle. Salvation had finally come.

“H-hey”, you screamed, startling the man, your body tensing as his gun was suddenly turned on you. A tense moment passed before he lowered the weapon, speaking something quickly into his shoulder before he jumped down and started running towards you. Unadulterated relief made your legs tremble, clasping your hands over your chest as your legs gave out. Startled, the soldier called out to you but all you could do was sob and point towards Akande. “Please...please help him...please?”

The man slowed in front of you, turning his head and doing absolutely nothing to hide the sharp intake of air as he looked at your fiance bleeding out. 

“This is Oni, we need a medevac, stat. I’ll stabilise best I can.”

Your eyes watched warily as the soldier Oni was joined by one then two other men, all other noise being filtered out by the rushing in your ears. Someone patted you lightly on the shoulder, your gaze not pulling from Akande, the words that the stranger said to you not passing through the barrier of your haze. If they tried to move you, you cried out, struggling until they left you be. You choked on your breath as they moved him onto a stretcher and followed closely as the small emergency aircraft they ordered descended. They allowed you on, escorting you both away as more military personnel began to flood into the area; triaging the wounded, hunting down any remnants of those that caused it. Your mind didn’t linger there as you slipped your hand into Akande’s good one and began to pray as the craft began to lift up, praying that life would go back to the way it should be, that the gods would heal him of these wounds caused by agents of chaos. The men worked on the other side of his body, the injection they had given him on the ground allowing him to be just lucid enough to draw your hand up to the oxygen mask they had placed over his nose and mouth. Brow furrowing, you fought the tears that begged to fall and gave him a watery smile, leaning down and pressing your forehead to his carefully. 

"You will be fine...rest my love."

He gave a soft, affirmative grunt as he allowed his eyes to shut, a few of your tears spilling down your cheeks. 

Please...please god let life return to the way if should be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Well guys, this is my first foray back into writing! What do you think? I'm going to be working on trying to release things as often as I can for all of you so please, shoot me a PM if you want to make requests. If you have questions or would like me to continue this, also comment here. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!


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